"Y-You are a girl?" Max asks.
The kid does have a feminine look, but the way she dresses and how she hides all of her red hair in that big hat makes it ambiguous. Now that Max thinks about it, her voice does sound more like a girl.
"That's pretty rude to say to a girl." Beth crosses her arms and Mia nods in agreement beside her.
They don't look surprised at all at the fact that Chloe is a girl.
"No, no, that's fine. People mistake me for a boy all the time because of the way I dress." Chloe isn't particularly offended, in fact, she is starting to relax a little from their casual, childish conversation.
"Why do you dress like that, then?" Max is a little relieved that Chloe isn't bothered by his remark.
"I… um… have my own reasons," Chloe says while avoiding Max's glaze.
It is obvious that she is hiding something, but Max doesn't want to pry.
"Anyways, let's talk somewhere else. More people might be coming here soon." Chloe puts her hat back on and begins walking away off of the docks.
Beth and Mia give Max a look, and he nods, after which the three of them follow behind Chloe.
"Where are we going?" Max asks after they reach the pavement.
"Somewhere safe," Chloe answers vaguely.
Max knows that Chloe isn't the type of person to reveal everything, so he stops asking questions and follows silently.
"Can we trust her?" Mia whispers beside Max.
"Probably." Max isn't sure about that, either.
They get onto the town roads, and the scene becomes slightly more familiar. Buildings with similar architecture as the ones on Stratford Island line up beside the roads. Most of them have signs indicating what kind of shops they are. People walk back and forth along these roads just like they did back home. The difference is that everything is much bigger in scale.
People continue to catch glances at Max and the others. Max definitely notices that some of those glances aren't very hospitable, but no one has done anything more than just looking at them.
"We are here." After some time, Chloe stops in front of a building even bigger than the other ones, consisting of three floors. A decorated sign hangs above the entrance and reads "Cavendish Inn".
"Is this what you were looking for?" Mia asks Max.
"Yeah, I think so," Max replies.
"Come on in," Chloe says to the three of them and opens the door.
Max enters the inn. The inside isn't that strange to him. It looks very much like a more spacious version of the tavern in his hometown. Round tables fill the room and people sit around them, drinking, eating, and talking. But unlike the tavern, the inn has stairs leading up to a second floor in the corner of the room. Most people don't pay attention to Max's group's entrance, but there are some whose attention is caught.
"We can stay here?" Mia asks.
"Maybe."
A little girl years younger than Max wearing an apron walks toward them.
"Welcome to the Cavendish Inn, what can we do for you today?" The girl smiles and asks.
"Oh, Miss…" The girl seems to recognize Chloe, but her voice trails off.
Max glances over to Chloe and notices that she has a finger on her lips, signaling the girl to stop talking.
Something is definitely up with her, Max thinks.
"We would like a private room if there is any available." Chloe puts her hand down.
"Sure, come this way." The girl waves her hand and walks away.
Max examines the room and the people as he walks through the dining area. He doesn't really notice anything strange. Technology hasn't progressed too far. Life here isn't much more advanced than the life on Stratford Island, which has basically been frozen in time for 200 years.
Soon, they reach the back of the room. There is a row of doors on the back wall, and the girl guiding them stops at one of them.
"Go ahead." The girl says with a slight bow and opens the door, "Just ring the call bell if you need anything."
"Thanks," Chloe says and enters the room. Max and the others follow suit.
The room is quite small, enough to fit no more than 10 people. There is a table in the middle with chairs placed around it. The greeter girl closes the door behind them. Chloe walks toward one of the chairs and sits down. Max grabs a seat across the table from Chloe. Beth and Mia sit down beside Max, one on each side.
After they are alone in the private room, Chloe takes off her hat and immediately loses her serious conduct.
"Ahh, thank you so much for saving me back there, I don't know what would have happened had you not been there," Chloe exclaims and slouches into her chair.
Max wonders how more mysterious this girl can be, and then responds.
"Well, helping those in need is a knight's duty, right?" Max smiles.
Mia nudges Max on the arm and Beth gives him a hard kick under the table, reminding Max how reluctant he was.
"Oww…" Max mutters under his breath but keeps his smile.
"There aren't any people like you around here, also, I don't think our kingdom appoints any young knights anymore, are you a foreigner?" Chloe is suddenly intrigued.
"You… could say that." Max doesn't want to say too much.
"Showing up out of nowhere and displaying such incredible swordsmanship, you are quite mysterious," Chloe says and gives a peculiar smirk.
You are the one to talk, Max thinks.
"Anyways, could I ask your names?" Chloe continues.
"Sure. I am Max… um… just Max is fine." Since Chloe didn't give her last name, Max feels like he probably doesn't need to, either. Revealing his last name might bring some trouble.
"I am Mia, Max's younger sister."
"My name is Elizabeth, call me Beth. Max and I are… cousins."
Max realizes that such vague introductions would arouse curiosity within anyone, but he is also pretty curious about Chloe. He hopes they might be able to exchange information in more detail sometime in the future.
"Great, it's a pleasure to meet you guys. Since you look like you are new to New Sernor, or Lancia in general, do you have anywhere to stay?" Chloe doesn't look bothered by their introductions.
"No, we were going to ask about that, actually."
"You can stay here in the Cavendish Inn if you want. Just talk to the bartender, she should have some rooms available for you. The cost is 30 copper coins per room per night."
Max gets a little cold sweat on his neck at the sound of the price. Currencies go from copper to silver, then gold, then platinum, each level is worth 100 of the previous one. Max currently has the equivalent of around 200 copper coins, which he thought could last some time, since a week's worth of food on Stratford Island is around 30 copper coins. But one night here would cost them 60 coins if they want separate rooms.
Chloe must have noticed Max's concern.
"If money is a problem, I can pay for the inn bill for one week, seeing that you saved my life and all. I am a little short on money as well, so that's the best I can do."
"Really? That would be great." Beth speaks up.
"Don't worry about it. Max, you are a pretty good fighter, you can probably become an exterminator. We have the biggest exterminator guild in the country here in New Sernor. I am sure you will make some big bucks in no time." Chloe says.
"Exterminator?" Max has never heard of such a job.
"Wha- You don't know what an exterminator is? Just where the hell did you come from?" Chloe sounds surprised.
"Um… somewhere far away?" Max isn't sure how to answer that.
"Okay… Anyways, you should have heard of the Crack that began to occur on what's now Stratford Island, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, they began occurring in other places 50 years ago."
"What?" People like Max are supposed to be the first line of defense when it comes to the Crack, he can't believe that they have been happening elsewhere for 50 years.
He glances over to Mia and Beth. They are just surprised to hear that as he is. Chloe looks somewhat amused at how surprised they are.
"They aren't nearly as big as the ones on Stratford Island, and they don't last long, as well, so they don't really pose much of a threat. The problem is that they are very frequent and occur at completely random places." Chloe continues.
"That's…" Max is speechless.
He wonders how this information is not known to the Stratfords. Max thinks that the elite circle probably knew about this, but they didn't say anything to prevent people from leaving the island so they can preserve their blood purity.
"Because they are so random, many of the cracks in the wild go undetected, and monsters just roam around the wilderness. People were starting to be attacked when they traveled outside the city grounds, so the countries established the exterminator guilds to hire fighters to exterminate the monsters."
"So that's how it is." Max is a little excited from the knowledge that he can actually fight the monsters he has prepared his entire life to fight.
"You can learn the rest of the information in the guild. If you keep walking down this road for some time, you will arrive in the heart of the city, the Royal Capital. The guild headquarters is there. It's a massive building, you can't miss it."
"Thanks, we will be sure to check it out."
"Well, I still have some things to attend to. Even though I have only been missing for one day, my family is probably worried sick."
Max feels uneasy about the way Chloe talks about her kidnapping, it's as if she experiences it frequently and she has gotten used to it.
"I will ask the bartender to get the room ready for you. I am going to come to check on you guys in two days. You are an interesting bunch." Chloe says and stands up to offer a handshake.
"Goodbye for now, then." Max gets out of his seat and shakes her hand.
Chloe tugs her hair under her hat and walks to the door and gives them one last wave, after which she opens the door and walks out.
"The room?" Beth mutters under her breath.
"Is there something wrong?" Mia asks.
"Yep, I knew it," Beth says.
The three of them stand at the doorway of the room Chloe had rented for them. There is one large bed in the center, and that is it.
"Why did Chloe only get us one room?" Mia asks.
"Maybe because Beth introduced herself as my cousin, so Chloe thought one bed is fine?" Max doesn't know what to make of the situation.
"It's fine. Let's just have Max sleep on the floor." Beth walks into the room and sets her stuff down.
"Wait, why me?"
"What, don't tell me you want two of us on the floor so you can have the bed to yourself?" Beth retorts.
"Um… whatever." Max gives in and walks into the room with Mia.
"It's gotten pretty late, let's go get some food," Mia suggests while throwing herself onto the bed, sinking into the fabric.
"Ahh, I missed the soft beds," Mia exclaims.
"You are just rubbing it in my face at this point," Max says sarcastically.
Mia gives Max a smirk. Rather than being annoyed, Max can't help but notice how cute his little sister is.
"Let's go check out that guild Chloe was talking about tomorrow. We might be able to make some money for an extra room." Beth says and sits down on the bed beside Mia.
"That's probably our only choice. For now, I just want to get something to eat." Max says.
"Yeah, I am kind of hungry, too." Mia sits up on the bed.
"Chloe bought a week of meals for us, right?" Beth asks.
"Yeah, let's go down to the tavern," Max suggests.
"Sure." Beth and Mia say at the same time.
Max takes his robe off and unequips the sword and other items on his belt. After he feels a lot lighter, Max begins walking toward the door.
"Whew, that was good. I am so full." Mia leans backward and falls onto the bed.
"I guess the cooking is one of the few things that actually improved in the last 200 years," Beth says while rubbing her stomach, looking satisfied.
Max can't disagree with them. The food and drinks are so much more flavorful than what he had on Stratford Island. They didn't send any chefs to the island 200 years ago, so it would make sense for the quality of the food to be subpar compared to the mainland.
The lamb Max ordered still makes him drool. He is slightly excited for breakfast the next day.
"I am so tired," Mia says with a big yawn.
"Yeah, it's been a long day." Max grabs a chair and sits down.
"I am going to go to sleep now, good night." Mia positions herself comfortably on the bed and almost immediately falls asleep.
Surprised by how sudden Mia just knocked herself out, Max stares at her in silence.
"It's amazing how fast she can sleep." Beth chuckles.
"I know, right."
"I should go to bed soon, too. Max, don't do anything weird, just sleep on the floor like you are told to." Beth leans over to blow out the candle.
The room is now pitch black, only lit by the moonlight shining through the window above the bed. Beth's golden hair glimmers silver in the darkness. It's time like this that Max sees Beth as more than just a friend.
"Stop staring. I just told you to not do anything weird." Beth pouts.
"I'm sorry. It's just… you are too beautiful to not stare at." Max smiles.
"Wha-" Beth's cheeks glow red in the dark.
"Calm down, it's just a compliment. I am going out to get some air. Sleep tight." Max chuckles and turns around toward the door.
"Do you enjoy teasing me?" Beth is a little angry.
"Of course." Max gives one last glance and leaves the room.
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